Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Western media vs. Muslim sensitivities

Oh, and by the way, “The Hatemonger’s Quarterly” is not a newspaper and it certainly ain’t reputable.

We object! Although The Hatemonger's Quarterly is not a newspaper, We find it reputable in that rarely are its claims unjustified and that it expresses its opinions and views without equivocation or manipulation. (Good responses to her, THMQ!)

Ms. Innab states that a newspaper's function is to "inform, not inflame." We would request Ms. Innab to convey this evidently novel fact to the Mainstream Media of the West. We do not expect her to convey it to the media of her region as they are hopeless and utterly irreputable to begin with.

Would she believe that printing stories about the alleged desecration of the Qur'an to be informing or inflaming? What about printing pictures of alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib? What about printing only the bad news from Iraq and rarely the good news? What about perpetuating incorrect memes about current events? Surely Ms. Innab should see that it is the Western media's tendency to inflame rather than inform. After all, an inflamed people means better business than an informed people.

For all her comments about Western media, perhaps her time would be used more wisely if she guided Arab Middle Eastern media on how to be reputable and informative rather than inflammatory and full of lies and misrepresentation. We have never seen such irreputable media as in the Middle East, and We have never seen media so intent on spreading lies and misrepresentations and fictions as the Middle Eastern media.

Furthermore, We utterly reject the notion that the Western media should have known better. The Western media routinely mock everything, and Islam should be no exception. It is a mark of a civilized people to take offense without resorting to violence. To react this way was unacceptable and utterly uncivilized. There can be no justification for this reaction whatsoever.

What would Ms. Innab say about the Danish imam who added a few anti-Muhammad cartoons of his own, incorrectly alleging that the added cartoons were also published by the Danish newspaper in question? Such deception is untenable and unacceptable - particularly when one realizes that the original cartoons were hardly as offensive as those the Danish imam added. Where are the burnt embassies and slaughtered Muslims as evidence of Muslim protests against the blaspheming and deceiving imam? Why have no fatawa been issued against him? (His acts very nicely demonstrate the acceptability of deception in Islam.)

Why did Muslims not protest worldwide when an American artist desired to depict Jesus Christ ("Hazrat Eesa bin Mariam" to Muslims) in urine? Or when Mary, the mother of Christ ("Hazrat Mariam" to Muslims), was depicted with dung? In both of these cases the media supported the depictions, excoriating those who vociferously opposed this "art" because of religious sensitivities. If Muslims really do love Jesus and Moses and all the prophets as they say, why did they not protest the desecration of these two holy figures?

Of course, anyone with half a brain would realize that the reason the American media did not print the offensive anti-Muhammad cartoons but printed and defended art desecrating Jesus and Mary is because Christians are not wont to violently protest when offended. The America media prefers to offend Christians and Jews rather than Muslims because the latter group is known for beheading those who offend them and engaging in other acts of violence. This fact is another indictment against Islam, proving that it contains, lamentably, elements and aspects that make it uncivilized.

Ms. Innab's comments that Arab media caricaturize only certain Jews is patently false. The Arab media routinely print cartoons that are viscerally unacceptable and offensive against Jews, Christians, Israelis, and Americans (and other peoples). This is done against whole peoples and not specific persons, although cartoons against specific persons are also done. For Muslims to be offended by cartoons deemed offensive by Muslims is quite hypocritical. But then, are not such double standards endemic within the Islamic community?

This episode - and even Ms. Innab's supposedly enlightened comments - demonstrate how incompatible Islamic culture and, to a degree, even Islamic senstitivites are with the West. Muslims will go to great lengths to condemn those who offend them and to defend the actions of the offended, unless the offended are non-Muslim. The proper response to this is to demand Muslims in the West and that desire to keep contact with the West that they conform to civilized standards of behavior or that they break all relations with the West. The West should not cater to their childish and hypocritical sensitivities. The West should not sacrifice its values because they offend Muslims.